What is Home?
by Fritter
Summary: Naruto decides not to use the demon's chakra to summon Gamabunta. What happens now?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi everyone, it's been a while. Sorry about that. Here is another story idea that I couldn't get out of my head. I won't be giving any hints as far as where I see this going, but I'd love to hear your guesses.

I will go back to my other stories to continue them soon, it mostly depends on if my work keeps me busy. Hopefully this will be the last new story for a while assuming my muse shows some consistency for one.

Enjoy!

OOO

Starts from Manga 94

OOO

It's been three weeks since Naruto started training with Jiraiya, 21 days of nothing but...

"Summoning Technique!"

Spoke erupts from where he slammed his hand down. As the smoke dissipates, a creature is revealed. It looks like a cross between a tadpole and grown up frog... so a preteen amphibian? (Sorry, author rambling...)

"Damnit!" Naruto cursed for what must be the 300th time. Quickly he bit his thumb and flashed through the needed hand signs

"Summoning Technique!"

"Damnit!"

"Summoning Technique! This time I've got a frog!" Once again the smoke cleared to show, the same young frog as before. Who looked very confused as to why he kept popping in and out of the world...

"What?! Damnit! Why can't I get it?!" Naruto hung his head for a moment, catching his breath. "What is this damn red chakra he keeps talking about..." He muttered quietly.

At this point, Naruto heard a sound from the edge of the clearing. "Hehehe" Jiraiya giggled while he wrote in his notebook.

Letting his frustration overwhelm him, Naruto shouted, "Damnit you old man!" Somewhat quieter, he continued, "At least pay some attention to me, your'e supposed to be... teaching... me..." He trailed off as he lost consciousness.

Jiraiya stopped giggling and sighed in disappointment. 'He collapsed again... I suppose I can't blame him, it's been 3 weeks non-stop.' Jiraiya thought as he walked and stood over the young boy. 'Using the Kyubi's chakra isn't easy. And it's true that his control is terrible. He's also too small a container to hold the Kyubi's chakra. The seal probably prevents his use of the chakra as a safety measure.' Jiraiya picked up Naruto and slung him over his shoulder. 'But those reports on Wave... strong emotions must be the key to unlocking that power. Well if strong emotions are the key, I'll just train his body to use that key...'

Jiraiya started heading north outside of the village towards Kyubi's Chasm.

Kyubi's Chasm is a bittersweet and awe-inspiring landmark a couple of days east of Konoha _(Unless you are a Sannin, then it's just a few hours.)_. This section of Fire Country was known as one of the most stunning examples of the Kyubi's power. After destroying the land of Whirlpool the Demon Fox headed directly towards Konoha. During the delaying actions of Leaf ninja 13 years ago, the fox struck the ground with one of it's enormous tails and opened a canyon that split the earth for miles, dropping several dozen ninja to their death below. This chasm was hundreds of feet deep and nobody had yet been to the bottom and lived to tell.

Jiraiya had decided that this was the last resort for Naruto. Knowing that he would soon have to face enemies nearly as strong as his father, only the Demon's power could give him the edge he needed. Most of the more powerful bloodlines only emerged at a life-threatening moment and this power appeared to be no exception to that rule. As Jiraiya lept through the trees toward his destination, only one thought repeated in his mind. 'Forgive me Minato...'

***

_Meanwhile_

_***_

_Naruto was in his first year at the academy. It has only been a couple of months and he was already losing hope that things would ever change._

_An academy teacher looked down at him with a disgusted look on his face. "Stop disrupting class, go sit outside while those that want to learn remain!"_

_"But I wasn't doing anything!" Naruto protested, looking up at his sensei._

_However, Kenji wasn't listening. He pointed again to the door and yelled, "Get out!!"_

_***_

_It was his first day with Team 7 and Naruto's teammates had just fed him, in violation of Kakashi's orders. For the first time in years, Naruto began to hope that he had started to make friends. He had heard stories over other ninja becoming the best of friends with their teammates, lasting for decade. Suddenly, storm clouds gathered overhead._

_"I thought I told you not to feed him!" Kakashi yelled as he appeared._

_The storm clouds cleared and Kakashi smiled. "Congratulations! You all pass." He said before walking away. "Come on Team 7, I'll treat you to lunch." They left for BBQ, leaving Naruto tied to the stump._

_"Wait, what about me, don't leave me tied up here!" Naruto shouted._

_His cries went unanswered as he struggled against the pole._

_***_

_Konohamaru had just completed the Sexy Technique when Ebisu showed up._

_"If you hang out with trash like him, you'll become stupid! Now come on!" the tutor yelled, trying to drag Konohamaru away from the demon._

_***_

_Naruto had gone to the hospital to look for Sasuke. In the lobby, he ran into his sensei._

_"Sorry Naruto, I can't train you, I have to train Sasuke." Kakashi had answered when Naruto asked him for training. "Good luck though. You will be training with Ebisu for the next month." Kakashi finished before vanishing._

_***_

_Naruto had just demanded that the old man train him for knocking out Ebisu. Jiraiya retorted "I hate disrespectful and rude brats like you!"_

***

_'I can't believe I had to bribe him into training me by turning into a woman... God I'm pathetic...'_

***

Naruto woke up.

"Nnnnn... What? Where am I?" He asked, blinking as the sunlight hit his eyes.

"Get up."

Naruto looked up to see Jiraiya standing over him with a blank look on his face. "Huh? What's going on?" He looked around in confusion, wondering where he was. All he could see was forest all around him. This could be any part of Fire country. Naruto suddenly wondered if he had made a mistake learning from this old man. Was this another Mizuki? His fears only increased as he heard the Toad Sage start talking.

Jiraiya spoke sternly, "The training end today brat. I have done everything I know how to do to help you learn this and we are now out of options. If you don't want to die then you had better figure this out right now."

"Wait, what?" Naruto replied, looking around frantically for an escape or someone to help him.

Jiraiya's only response was to knock Naruto back into the chasm.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" was all that could be heard as Naruto fell.

Looking down at his small student, Jiraiya shoved down the growing sense of dread in his stomach and quietly stated, "Now we will see if you are meant to use this power. Or not."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Naruto was falling down at a high speed, he passed terminal velocity and had fallen at least a couple hundred feet. Looking around frantically, he tried to figure out a way to save himself. Turning his head to the side, he sees the rough walls and has an idea. "Wait, maybe I can grab onto this like with those trees." Putting his hands into the ram sign, he gathered his chakra. "If I can't do this, I'll die! Gotta focus..." Feeling his chakra move to his hands, he reached out desperately. However, despite his best attempts, Naruto's hands just slipped off the wet rock every time.

"Damnit!" he shouted, watching the walls blur by. It was now that reality had started to set in to the teenager. Naruto could only say one thing. "I'm really going to die here..."

***

Naruto woke up.

"Huh? Where am I?" He looked around wondering if that had just been a dream.

"A sewer?" It appeared that he was in a sewer, but it wasn't like any sewer he had seen. Having hid in the sewers of Konoha to escape a drunken villager a few times, he knew he wasn't in Konoha any more. What's more, something didn't feel right, this sewer felt... familiar, but ominous.

"What's this feeling?" Moving down the hallway, splashing lightly in the water on the floor, Naruto passed door after door as he explored. Each door was in a different condition. Some were clean, most were rusted and a couple looked like they were one step from falling off of their hinges. Seeing a passage way up ahead, Naruto wondered if maybe he should be moving away from the incredibly creepy feeling. As the passge ended, he was standing in a room that appeared to be larger than the coliseum. Standing a couple hundred feet away, and reached the ceiling and side walls was what appeared to be a set of giant cage doors. In the dim lighting he could make out a shadow the size of the Hokage monument and suddenly, part of the shadow opened to reveal a pair of red eyes that radiated anger and frustration.

"Ugh, so big... what is it?" He asked himself, staring into the giant eyes.

A low rumbling voice echoed from the cage. **"Child... come closer..."**

As if hypnotized, Naruto did as ordered, moving forward in a slow daze. As he came close to the cage, he suddenly shook his head and jumped back. Just in time too.

**Crash!**

The cage bars flashed and the claws jerked back as if stung. **"I want to eat you!"** The shadow roared, shaking the room. **"This damned seal!"**

Naruto took a moment to take another look at the room. This time he noticed a few things he had missed before. He saw the bars of the cage were inscribed with various Kanji and where the two doors met in the center as a small slip of paper that simple said 'Seal'.

As realization struck him like a ton of bricks, Naruto pointed at the shadow and shouted, "You... you're the Kyubi! The red chakra... It's yours!" He couldn't believe that the pervert wanted him to use this cursed power. Last time he used it, he nearly killed his first true friend. Was Jiraiya trying to make the village hate him even more?

**"Yes I am. Why are you here? What do you want?"** The now revealed demonic fox asked.

Giving the demon an incredulous look, Naruto wondered the same thing, what was he doing here. "Everybody hates me because of you! I don't want anything from you!" he shouted. "Let me out of here!"

The Kyubi was speechless for a moment. He had not expected this. **"You don't want to use my power? We are falling to our death, without it, we won't survive!"**

Naruto scoffed. "I don't care anymore! I can't become Hokage, nobody likes me. I have to bribe people for training! Nobody respects me... and they never will..." He turned as if to leave and waved. "I can't say it was nice to meet you, but goodbye."

Recovering from his shock, Kyubi roared after the young ninja. **"Come back here! You brat, get back here!!!"**

***

Naruto blinked as conciousness returned to him. As expected, he was still falling. The difference was that now, he didn't really care.

I guess this is it... sorry old man, guess I won't be taking that hat from you. Kakashi, you sucked as a sensei, I won't miss you. Bye Sakura-chan, good luck with Sasuke, you don't have to put up with me any more. I'm so sorry Iruka-sensei...

He could now make something out at the bottom, it appeared to be an exposed portion of an underground river. At peace as he approached the his death, he felt a sudden warmth surround him.

And then he felt no more.

OOO

A/N: Please review, this whole reason I am posting this is because someone reviewed Long Lost Uzumaki recently. I will continue LLU within the next month and Pulse or this story after that. Enjoy!

**Rant: **Does anybody mind if I rant for a bit? What is this bullshit about the new and all powerful Juubi? Also, now we hear that the Sharingan either developed from the Rinnegan or the Juubi had some super ShaRinnegan? This is stupid, he first states that the Sharingran developed from the Byakugan, then he says that the Byakugan, Sharingan and Rinnegan were the 3 great and powerful Doujutsu and now it looks like the Sharingan and Rinnegan are connected and the Byakugan is just forgotten or something. I'm somewhat curious to see just how OP the Uchiha become, I'm thinking DBZ strong here soon. I can see it now, Madara's evil scheme will come to fruition and then Naruto, who somehow survives the Kyubi extraction, pulls a Kamehameha out of his ass to destroy the moon! Take that evil scheme!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Another chapter, sooner than I planned, but hey, whatever.

Enjoy!

OOO

Naruto woke up.

What woke him up was the feeling of someone shaking his shoulder. Keeping his eyes closed, he took a moment to assess himself. He was cold, wet and in pain. It didn't feel like anything was broken, which meant he had been out at least a few hours. Broken bones took at least that long for him to heal normally and he didn't see how that fall could result in anything but lot of broken bones.

"I know you're awake." said someone, female, with a melodious voice.

Opening his eyes he looked up to see the sun backlighting what appeared to be a beautiful woman. Despite the sun, he could see striking purple eyes, slightly slanted, staring back at him. He asked, "Where am I?"

Smirking slightly, the woman responded. "What is far more important is the question 'Who are you?', what exactly is a Leaf Ninja doing here?"

Getting frustrated with the lack of answers, Naruto sat up and stared her face to face. "My 'Sensei' shoved me off of a cliff because I wasn't learning fast enough, thats what I'm doing here! Now how about you answer my damn question!" He yelled, trying, and failing, to keep his emotions under control.

"Do you really think I'm going to believe that a Konoha sensei shoved a student off a cliff, you Leaf are too softhearted for that. So stop with the bullshit and tell me what you are doing here before I have to force you." the woman answered, pulling out a kunai.

"Like hell you will!" Channeling chakra to his legs, Naruto leapt back from the kunoichi to get some space. He reached for his kunai holster only see that it was missing. About to form his favorite hand-seal and summon his own personal army, he paused for a moment, wondering why the woman was staring at him in shock. Following her line of sight, he looked down to see the remains of his shirt and his seal visible to the world. He blushed when he saw that only the barest scraps of clothing kept him from being completely bare to the world. Naruto looked back up only to find the woman gone. Luckily though, his confusion didn't last for long since he siddenly found himself eating dirt, which his arms bent rather painfully behind him.

Now that he was subdued, the woman quickly bound his hands and kept her knee pressed into his back. "Lets try this one more time, but with a new line of questioning. I saw your seal, don't try to hide it, which demon to you contain? Were you planning to release it on my village?!?!?!" She said, getting more and more angry as she spoke.

Naruto went limp in her arms after that question. She couldn't think of any other way to explain it, he simply shut down. "Why didn't you let me die?" He whispered.

Her eyes softened at that. The amount of pain in his voice was too convincing to be fake. Sighing to herself, she freed him and sat across from him. "I think we started off on the wrong foot, let's try this one more time. My name is Yugito Nii, what's yours?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Naruto eh?" 'A ramen topping?!?!' "Alright then Naruto, you are at the border to Kumo." Yugito started, "I pulled you out of the river where I found you and looked after you while you healed." She looked down at his stomach. "Judging from what I have seen, I'm guessing that your tenant accelerates your healing. At first I thought it was a blood line, but that was before I saw your seal."

"How do you know so much about that bastard fox?" Naruto asked.

"Fox?" Yugito's eyes widened, "You have... You have the Kyubi sealed inside of you?!" She stood up and took a step back. "What kind of game are you playing? If you have the demon fox stuck inside of you, why didn't you use it's power? Why was I able to defeat you so easily? How the hell were you even in that condition in the first place?!"

Looking up at her with narrowed eyes, Naruto responded, "You didn't answer my question, I won't answer yours."

Yugito rolled her eyes and took a deep breath to calm down. "Fine, you want an answer? Allow me to introduce myself, I am Yugito Nii, Jinchuuriki of the Two Tailed Demon Cat. Now how about you answer my questions."

"..."

"Brat?"

Naruto huffed. "Don't call me that... I just never expected to meet another one of us out here. How the hell are you so normal?"

"Normal?" Yugito asked.

"Yeah normal, I just met this Gaara guy who is a homicidal, psycho insomniac so why are you so normal?"

"I could ask you the same thing. From what I can tell, you're three steps from harmless, yet you claim to have the most powerful of the Tailed Beasts living in your belly." She said in an accusatory tone.

Naruto stood up and started pacing. "I am so sick and tired of this!! Arg!!" he yelled, "My village hates me because of the demon, my sensei's ignore me and make fun of me, and then that worthless old man throws me off a cliff because he wants me to use that damn demon's power to save myself!"

"Your sensei did what?" Yugito asked, thoroughly shocked by what the child in front of her had said.

"Did I stutter?" he asked sarcastically, "You asking about the ignoring or the throwing off a cliff?"

Throwing her hands up in the air, she shouted, "Both! What the hell kind of sensei does either of those? You have the potential to be one of the strongest ninja ever and they treat you like that? They sure as hell don't do that in Kumo!"

"Well how did you grow up?!" He challenged.

"Like I said, I have a demon in me just like you. I was raised and trained by the Raikage and ANBU. They helped me to use my demon's full power and I've been a Jonin since I was not much older than you are! I'd love to give you a heart-breaking story of loss, betrayal and so forth, but that really isn't the case. What's your story?"

"My story? Let's see, I apparently had a demon fox shoved into me by the Yondaime. The village hates me and has done everything short of outright attacking me to hold me back. My team is made up of a spoiled brat and a fan girl and my sensei has done nothing to train me except for tree-walking and he only taught me that because our lives were in danger! My life sucks! Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Yugito took a few moments to process all that she had heard. There was so much that just didn't add up. She was having trouble deciding if he was a great liar or if his life sucked that much. "But that doesn't make any sense. Why would they treat you like that when you father saved the village?"

Naruto gasped, "What?" He was frozen in shock.

She gave him a quizzical look. "Your father was the Fourth Hokage wasn't he?"

Suddenly Naruto started laughing. "Hehe, thats a good one, you had me there for a sec. Me, the son of a Hokage. Where the hell did you come up with that?"

"You think I'm joking?"

"..."

"Seriously?"

"..."

Grumbling in frustration, Yugito held up her hand with three fingers extended. "Fine, I'll give you three reasons." She pointed at the first finger. "One, I met Namikaze once and he sure as hell didn't seem like the type to sacrifice his life to put a demon in the belly in someone else's kid. He was honorable and perhaps the most oddly honest shinobi I ever met."

Naruto's just stared.

She pointed at her second finger. "Two, you look just like him, I mean almost exactly like him. Like a mini-me version, kinda creepy actually."

Naruto walked over to the water and looked at his reflection.

Watching him with a realization that he may have actually had his parentage hidden from him, Yugito pointed to her last finger. "Three, when I met him he was with a redhead that I am positive I heard someone call Uzumaki. It was at a big peace conference at the end of the last war. That good enough for you?"

"..." Naruto continued to stare at his refection in the water.

"Naruto? You in there?" She walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and she could see the tears waiting to be spilled from his eyes.

Not quite sure how to handle this, Yugito made him face her. "Ack, don't cry. What are you, 6? You mean you seriously didn't know?" This only made him cry harder.

Gathering him into her arms, she rubbed his back and spoke as soothingly as she could. "Shhh... It's ok. Come on, I'm going to take you with me."

"What?" He pushed away and looked up at her confused.

Yugito rolled her eyes. "After what you've told me, I'm sure as hell not letting you go back there. Konoha can rot for all I care if they let any child suffer the way you have."

"But that's my home!" Naruto protested.

Yugito thought a moment to put it into words. "Kid, I want you to picture something for me, ok?." she asked.

Naruto nodded.

"Pretend you live in a run-down apartment. Pretend the water barely runs and the electricity flickers on and off. Pretend that your door is hanging loosely from its hinges. Pretend that the only thing you have to eat is instant ramen because you don't have a working fridge to store food in. Let me know when you have that in your mind."

"..."

"What's wrong now?" she asked, now getting annoyed.

"But that's how I live now..." Naruto answered sadly.

"Oh to hell with this!" Getting fed up with all of the unbelievable information she was getting from this kid, she froced him to look her in the eyes." Naruto, what I just did was think about the worst possible way I could live, we're talking bottom of the barrel living. Why are you ok with living that way? I can't promise you much, but I give you my word that life will be better than that in Kumo. You can decide later if you want to go back, k?"

"Ok..."

OOO

A/N: And there we go. Next chapter will show Konoha and then we will have a time skip.

Also, can someone tell me where it says that ANBU is Konoha only? I see these stories with BOLT or BOULDER or ECHO as foreign countries black ops, which just seems silly when neither the 'word' ANBU or what it stands for even mentions Leaf. 


	3. Chapter 3

For some reason this chapter was hard for me to write. I have trouble with some of the more "Out There" personalities so no Kirabi this chapter. Honestly, I'm avoiding it. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this and please review.

OOO

"Shit shit shit shit shit... what have I done? I killed him... Oh my god, I killed him... Why the hell did I do that? I thought he could do it! Shit... Sarutobi's going to kill me... Shit... That mission report said that high emotions let him tap into that power... Why didn't he?"

"Jiraiya!"

The Toad Hermit turned toward the voice. "Gama, what did you find?"

"That's a long way down Jiraiya," the Toad replied, "but all we found a lot of blood and this."

Jiraiya stared at the orange coat. "A jacket? Did you find the body?"

"No."

"Then he could be alive?!" Jiraiya shouted excitedly.

"Jiraiya..." Gama regretfully interrupted, "The signs show that he hit the rocks... I don't think there's any way he could have lived through that. I think the body was swept away by the river."

At those words, Jiraiya's face fell again and he started mumbling. "What have I done..."

The toad sighed before smacking Jiraiya on the back of his head. "Snap out of it!"

Straightening himself, Jiraiya closed his eyes for a moment before turning towards Konoha. "You're right... I need to go tell Sensei... I'll summon you again if I live through this.

***

They were moving swiftly through towards the mountains. Naruto had spent the last couple of hours in silence. Yugito was about to check on him when suddenly he stopped.

"So you really think he's my dad?" Naruto asked after a moment.

Yugito looked over at the sad look on his face. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Why do you think he left me alone like that?"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

Naruto clenched his fist angrily, "He had to know how people were going to react, but he didn't arrange for me to have a guardian or anything. I was in an orphanage for god's sake!" he shouted.

"I don't know kid." Yugito replied, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It really doesn't make sense. Maybe they were hoping that anonymity would protect you."

"Anon... huh?"

"..." Sighing at his lack of education, she elaborated. "It means that if nobody knew you existed, other countries that hate your dad couldn't attack you."

"Oh."

"You really didn't know what that meant?"

"Shut up." He turned away.

Yugito face became stern and she stared directly into his eyes. "Stop that right now, I'm not making fun of you. It just... It just seems almost like some piece of badly written fiction that your own village could sabotage you like that. From what I've heard about the Sandaime Hokage, it just doesn't make any sense why he would have let all that happen. Maybe he's different from how people perceive him."

"Don't talk bad about the old man, he looked out for me just fine!" Naruto shouted, "When I got kicked out of the orphanage, he found me a place to live."

"A place to live?" was the incredulous retort, "You mean that shithole of an apartment that you told me about earlier? Listen Naruto, I don't blame him. Don't think that I was. It's hard to be a leader. There are times that you have to look out for the many at the expense of the few."

"..." Naruto was silent as he thought that over.

"We Jinchuriki are often looked at as something other than human." Yugito continued, "We have powers that normal people, even ninja, can't understand. Konoha is unique in that the Kyubi actually attacked the village itself, most of the Bijuu didn't do that. You were in the worst position imaginable. The fact that the demon killed so many; the fact that their hero, their leader who was known as one of the strongest shinobi in the world had to die to stop it; that they aren't allowed to forget what happened with a mini-Yondaime wandering around with fox whiskers. I don't blame them and I don't blame you. It was what most people call a lose-lose situation."

"I get it." He said quietly, "And I don't blame them, that's why I wanted to become Hokage. To prove them wrong and show that I mattered. But how could I lead people by shoving their loss in their face by using the chakra of the beast that killed their families. I was being setup to fail in the first place wasn't I?!" Naruto was getting angry, "Why did that bastard Jiraiya try to get me to use that power?!"

"Jiraiya?!"

Naurto looked up at his fellow Demon Container. "What about him?"

"Your last sensei was the Sannin Jiraiya?" Yugito asked, "He's the one that tossed you off that cliff?"

"Yeah..." Naruto said, confused.

"My god you have a fucked up life..." She mumbled to her self before answering. "Jiraiya is the one that taught your father."

"... Let's get moving."

"Poor kid..." Yugito said before catching up.

*** 3 days later ***

"Wow..."

They could see the village up ahead. Rather than being like Konoha, Kumo was built into the peaks at the top of the mountain range. It was chilly, but not overly so. Naruto could see buildings along the edges of the spites with giant platforms spanning between with bustling markets and people everywhere.

"Welcome Naruto, to the Village Hidden in the Clouds, my home." Yugito said proudly.

"This place is amazing! It's like living in the sky!"

They made their way to the gates below the city. The guards smiled at Yugito as they passed and she led Naruto up the giant stairway to the village proper. Naruto, though apprehensive at first, noticed that people weren't glaring or ignoring his guide as they made their way towards the tallest peak. The ninja waved and the civilians went about their way, nodding respectfully. Reaching the entrance of a massive tower marked with the symbol for lightning, Yugito led him up to an ornate door.

"Naruto, wait here while I go speak with the Raikage. He is... tempermental... so it's not best to surprise him. And he will be surprised to meet you."

***

"Yugito!?" The Raikage shouted, "What are you doing back so early? You were supposed to be on patrol for another week!"

Used to his personality, Yugito simply bowed before answering. "I apologize sir, but I found something, someone that I think you will want to meet."

"Someone? Who did you find?" Raikage asked, half amused.

Preparing herself, Yugito answered, "Sir, while on patrol I found a child half-drowned and half-dead."

Raikage's eyebrows raised, "A child? Yugito, your reason must be better than that." he interrupted.

"I was getting to that sir." Yugito took a deep breath before continuing., "This child is named Naruto. He is the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi and I believe him to be the son the Minato Namikaze."

Raikage slammed his fist into the desk, shattering it as he stood. "WHAT!?!" he yelled, "You kidnapped Konoha's Jinchuriki? Are you trying to start a war?"

Not backing down, Yugito stepped forward. "When I found him, he had literally been thrown off of a cliff by the Sannin Jiraiya! His village hates him and has stunted his growth for his entire life. He didn't even learn of his prisoner until less than a year ago!"

"What do you mean 'thrown off of a cliff'?" he asked, not sure what he was hearing.

Thankful that he wasn't yelling any more, Yugito said, "Exactly that. From what the boy tells me, Jirayia had been trying to teach him to use the demon's chakra for a couple of weeks beforehand without any results. The kid's an idiot because of how he was raised, but his potential is damn near limitless."

Wondering about his potential if he had been failing his training, Raikage had to ask, "Why couldn't he use the Kyubi's chakra?"

"Naruto was only able to access it once, when he thought a teammate had died. It looks like Jiraiya tried to mimic the circumstances by having Naruto drain his own chakra dry and then put him into stressful situations." Yugito explained.

"..." Raikage prompted her to continue while he was deep in thought.

Nodding in understanding, she continued, "As you know sir, trying to access the demon that way requires a loss of control. As you should recall with your brother and I, this is the opposite of what is required. Continuing on this path would have resulted in Naruto becoming little more than a beast while using it, with little to no control over the results."

"What are his skills over all?" Raikage asked.

"From what he tells me, he his only workable technique is the Shadow Clone. The thing is sir... he can create hundreds of them without breaking a sweat!"

"You're telling me, he has one technique, but that technique happens to be a forbidden jutsu directly from Konoha's Forbidden Scroll?!"

"I know!" Yugito exclaimed, "His Taijutsu is sub-par, he has no Genjutsu to speak of, his chakra control is below Genin level, but he has so much chakra that he powers his way through whatever stands before him." she paused a moment before continuing, quieter than before,  
"It's like he had only a few people looking out for him while the village did their best to pretend he didn't exist."

"And you think he has been honest with you?"

Yugito actually laughed at the question. "I want you to speak with him, he doesn't have any mode other than disturbingly honest. Not the best ability for a ninja, but it fits him. He hasn't been able to lie to me, though there are questions he avoids. Mostly ones that touch on his abandonment. I really think he is the real deal!"

Raikage thought for a bit while musing, "Holder of the Kyubi, son of the Yellow Flash, abandoned by his village, yet master of a Kinjutsu..." He looked up and asked, "What are his feelings towards the village now?"

"He loves Konoha, though that feeling has been waning the more we speak about how he was treated." Yugito smiled, "I believe he can become an incredibly powerful and loyal Kumogakure shinobi... if you will allow it of course."

"Bring him in, we will decide if he is worth the risk." the Raikage decided, "And have my secretary bring me another desk..."

***

As Yugito walked in to the office with Naruto in tow, there was already a new desk. They were walking up to Raikage when Naruto stopped and stared with wide eyes. "You're huge..."

Yugito scowled and slapped Naruto on the back of his head. "Brat, show some respect, this is the Raikage, leader of Kumo and you will address him as Raikage-sama." she said sternly.

Naruto glared at her for a moment, "Respect is earned, not given." he stated without hesitation.

Yugito reached down and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. Hissing quietly as him, she said, "Listen you brat, I have put myself on the line for you." Naruto looked a little guilty at that, "I know how you were raised, so consider this manners 101, do you understand?" Naruto nodded, "Then apologize and address him properly!"

They both stood up and Yugito turned Naruto to the Raikage. He bowed to the giant man. "Umm... I apologize Raikage-sama, umm... I have never seen anyone as big as you before..."

Raikage laughed, "You weren't kidding about him Yugito... It's alright kid, so what do you think of my village?"

Having relaxed at the Kage's greeting, Naruto smiled widely and pointed out the window. "This place is amazing, it's must be like living the sky! And the people, they are so friendly, they're not mean to Yugito-neechan or anything!" the boy said loudly.

"Why would they be mean to her?" Raikage asked with a confused expression, "She is a respected shinobi and a good person."

Naruto looked down, "Well yeah, but she has a demon in her like me, and the people are still nice to her..."

Realizing that Yugito hadn't been exaggerating about the kid, Raikage motioned the boy to sit. Looking at him across the desk, he asked, "So you think that they would mistreat her just because of what she carries?"

Yugito chose this moment to interrupt with some insight, "Sir, he met the Kazekage's son."

This caused the Raikage to laugh, "Oh... that psycho... I don't know what Kazekage did to that kid, but most of the Jinchuriki aren't like that. You've seen how Yugito is treated her and my brother is also respected, as annoying as he is..." Having rolled his eyes when speaking about his brother, he trailed off, mumbling about bad rhymes.

"Your brother?" Naruto asked.

"Didn't Yugito tell you? My brother is also a Jinchuriki, he holds the Hachibi no Ushi-Oni. I'll introduce you at some point, if only to see if you can put up with him."

"How many are there like me out there?"

"There are 9 total. All the way from Ichibi to Kyubi. Kumo has two, as do Kiri and Iwa. You already know that Suna has one and I think the 7-tail is in Taki the last time I heard. I can't say they are all treated well, but they aren't psychopaths as far as I know. Now, I know this puts you on the spot, but do you want to join my village?"

Naruto looked shocked for a moment, "I don't understand."

Raikage sighed, "Yes you do kid, it's not that hard. Believe me, while I do have some sympathy for how you were raised, I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart. Your potential is almost unmeasurable given your Bijuu and your bloodline. You could prove a powerful asset for my village and it's people. I can promise you that you will be treated fairly. I can promise you that only your own growth and abilities will determine how far your training is taken. I can promise that you will not experience the kind of shit that you had to go through in Konoha. I can promise you that you will learn to use the power sealed within you safely. Understand that I am making an investment in you boy. If and when Konoha finds you here, there will be hell to pay, but I think that your potential is worth it." Raikage walked around his desk and bent down to look Naruto in the eyes. "I am offering you a home Naruto, not just a job and a place to live."

His eyes brimming with tears, Naruto took a moment to respond. "I don't know... Hokage has been my dream for so long..."

"You can have a day to think it over." Raikage responded with sympathy. "I won't force you. Even giving you back to Konoha will work to my advantage. This offer is because Yugito says your worth it and I trust her. Now leave, both of you. I will see you both tomorrow."

Yugito said, "Yes sir." and led Naruto out of the office.

OOO

I hope you enjoyed reading this. I would love some more ideas about where to take this. The overall story is planned out, but ideas on interaction with Konoha and missions would be appreciated.

One last thing, I would like you all to take a look at one of the funniest Naruto fanfics I have read. It's called Nothing But Trouble by Mister Cynical.


	4. Chapter 4

OOO

The silence was deafening in the Hokage Tower. After a few moments of shocked disbelief, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, God of Shinobi and sensei to the legendary Sannin turned to his last loyal student with narrowed eyes. "Please repeat that? I don't think I heard you correctly."

"Naruto is dead sensei..." Jiraiya mumbled.

Hiruzen's response was scathing, "I'm sorry, I thought I heard you say that Naruto, your godson, the villages Jinchuriki died while on your watch. How can this be?" he asked sarcastically, biting off each word.

Jiraiya head sunk a little lower and he began his report. "He was training with Ebisu, but their personalities were clashing and I took over. I had to remove a 5 element seal from him that Orochimaru had apparently placed on him to block the Kyubi's chakra. It had been messing with his chakra control. After he finished learning water walking, I had him sign the Toad Contract. He was struggling with summoning anything useful so I began to train him to use the Kyubi's power as a trump card." Jiraiya lowered his eyes to the floor. "He was having trouble using it at all... soIthrewhimoffacliff..."

"You threw him off a cliff?"

"Yes sir..."

"I suppose you want to tell me why you thought this was the right choice?" Sarutobi asked quietly.

"It was the wave mission. The first time that he used the demon's chakra, he was about to die... Emotional trauma and all that. I thought a near death experience would have brought it out again..." Jiraiya replied, his spirit nearly broken.

"Sensei?"

"Never call me that again." Sarutobi whispered before composing himself. "Where is the body? It would seem I have a funeral to prepare..."

"Yeah..." Jiraiya took a deep breath. "The toads reported that after hitting the rocks at the bottom of the chasm... that the body was swept underground by the river..."

'I can't believe this... I swore after Orochimaru that I would never let my personal feelings override the good of the village. I hate this job so much some times.' The Hokage thought before looking up at the Toad Sage. "Jiraiya, I suggest you leave my office now. If I didn't think Orochimaru was about to attack this village, I would execute you..."

Jiraiya's mouth was open in shock, "Sensei..."

"I said LEAVE!" Sarutobi yelled.

"..." Jiraiya walked out, closing the door quietly behind him.

Hiruzen sealed his office, glad that for a short time, he could be human and mourn the boy.

"Hey, do you sell clothes for ninja here?"

The tailor looked up from his counter at a young blond-haired shinobi. Greeting his newest customer, he replied. "Hello there young man, yes we do! What can I help you find?"

Trying not to think of how different this greeting was when compared to Konoha, Naruto gave a sad smile. "I... have a history of bad choices in clothing... what would you suggest?" He had endured hours of lectures from Yugito on why bright orange was a horrible color for a ninja on their journey to Kumo.

The tailor gave Naruto a once over, "Hmm... let me look around a bit. He said, "Are you a new Genin? I haven't seen you around here before."

Naruto have a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm new to the village. Raikage told me I have till the end of the day to decide if I want to be a Kumo ninja."

The tailor frowned lightly at that. "Have you decided yet? I'm not really supposed to sell gear to non-ninja."

"No, not yet. I don't want to get you in trouble or anything." Looking around, he asked, "Can I just get some basic shirts and pants? Mine were ruined recently and these are a loaner from Yugito."

"Oh, you know Yugito? I thought I recognized that look. You are awfully lucky that she doesn't wear normal Kunoichi clothes if that's the case." He chuckled. "She shops here all the time. Tell you what dear, I'll give you a discount as long as you promise to come back here if you join the village."

Naruto was flabbergasted. "Really? Seriously? Thank you so much!" Suddenly his grin faltered, "Wait... why are you being so nice to me?" He asked suspiciously.

The tailor was confused, "What do you mean? You seem like a nice young man, why wouldn't I be nice to you?" Looking closely at Naruto, his eyes widened slightly. Continuing in a more understanding tone, he answered the question. "The discount is both to help Yugito for giving so much business over the years and because I hope you will also give us your patronage."

"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to this... I shouldn't have been suspicious. Thank You." Naruto bowed slightly.

The tailor smiled, "Call me Makoto, and I may be way off here, but you should know that not everybody will judge you for what you may or may not hold. Lets go find you some clothes." he said, leading the slack jawed young man around the store.

Watching Naruto walk down the street with his new wardrobe, he could only sigh. "That poor kid. I hope he loosens up if he decides to stick around."

Still wondering if he was in a dream or not, Naruto wandered around the village some more. Suddenly, a familiar aroma assaulted his nostrils. Following his nose (it always knows!), he found what he needed after such an unusual day. After a brief prayer, thanking the gods and spirits that ramen was not a Konoha only food, he walked past the curtain into a small ramen stand.

The girl in her late teens was manning the counter. "Welcome to Tamaya Ramen, what can I get you?"

Relaxing at the familiar scene, he sat down at the bar and ordered. "Umm, I'll have a large Miso please."

"One Miso, coming up!" the girl replied with a a practiced hand, she had the bowl ready in moments. "Here you go, is there anything else I can get you?"

Naruto smiled widely and prepared his chopsticks. "Thanks! Can you get a large pork ready too? This won't last me long!" This was followed by a quick 'Itadakimasu' and he began to eat.

"giggle... wow, you are a growing boy aren't you?" she asked.

Pausing to scratch the back of his head, he smiled at her. "Hehe.. yeah, but this is great! It's as good as the ramen back... nevermind." Naruto's smile began to fall so he refocused on his meal.

"That's ok, let me get that next bowl ready for you!"

"Thanks alot!" He replied, trying desperately to not think. It wasn't that he ate ramen for every meal like many people thought. After a few... lessons... by the ANBU, nobody tried to prevent him from buy groceries or anything, but Ichiraku had been the only place where he wasn't ignored.

After he had finished his meal, Naruto introduced himself to the ramen girl and found out that her name was in fact Tamaya. Her father had named the stand after her. Thanking Tamaya for the meal, he paid and left, heading towards the Raikage's tower.

Tamaya watched the boy walk off, "That kid had such a sad look in his eyes... I hope he's ok..."

During Naruto's conflicted adventures in Kumo, Yugito and A were discussing the young Jinchuriki.

"Something isn't right with this Yugito." A remarked.

Yugito sighed and replied (hey that rhymed!) "I know sir." And she did know. A part of her felt more than a little foolish bringing the child into the village.

"You find a kid, who happens to be the container of the Kyubi, appears to be the son of Namikaze, has a sob story that caused you to bring him here to the center of the village, and knows a single forbidden technique that just happens to be the 'lets create an army out of nothing technique'...

Blushing slightly and angry at herself for it, Yugito tried to explain. "Yes, except when he showed me the technique he only used a single hand-sign and the clones were very fragile, they dispelled at the slightest hit. From our own records dealing with the Copy Nin and Itachi Uchiha, we know that the this isn't normal. It matches up with his story of how he learned it."

A grunted skeptical agreement. "And yet he claims to have been taught by one of the Sannin, who of all people, decides that throwing him off a cliff is the right way to train him... Sarutobi is no fool, the so called Professor wouldn't let this happen without his knowledge... and he would have come up with a less suspicious background if it were an advance attack on the village. Is it possible that that Sarutobi screwed up like this?"

A hated himself for thinking that the Hokage was infallible. The sad truth though was that you don't get to be that age as a Ninja without being damn good. And you don't get to live that long as a Kage unless you were damn good at making enemies dance to your tune. The only reason Onoki wasn't as feared was because Konoha wiped out so much of their forces during the last war.

A continued his thoughts, "If the kid really is Namikaze though, Jiraiya could have had his concentration affected by nostalgia... The Sannin never had much emotional control when not in combat after all. Add to it that the kind of emotional turmoil the kid would experience being tossed like that should have caused Naruto to use the Bijuu's chakra... It was a stupid way to get him to use the Kyubi, but it wasn't a bad plan."

Yugito offered her input, "The story does seem like something out of a bad manga doesn't it? But the evidence is a little too believable." Suddenly a thought struck her, "Doesn't Jay have a team in the exams?"

Acknowledging the idea, A made a decision. "Have someone in his family send a lizard with the following message. 'The Lightning Ambassador is to report any and all unusual events during the exam finals. Especially with the Genin'... or missing Genin in this case.' Once that is done, we will require something of the boy if he wishes to join."

"Something to help prove his intentions?" Yugito asked, intrigued.

"Yes. He must provide details on how to perform the Shadow Clone technique. If he agrees, your first mission will be to learn the technique and then work with Naruto on it's effectiveness. If his clones are as fragile as you say, find out why and fix it. Afterwords, write me a scroll on the technique and I will lock it in our vaults."

"Yes Sir" Yugito responded, standing at attention.

"One more thing, you said you saw his seal? What kind was it?" A asked her.

Confused, Yugito wished she could give a proper answer. "I don't know much about seals sir. There was a spiral surrounded by what looked like a wheel made of of symbols with 8 spikes."

"Was the wheel continuous or segmented?"

Yugito had to think for a moment. "It was in two halves, each one with four spikes." she replied.

"A stable Eight Divination Sign seal made up of two mirrored Four Image seals?" A marveled. "Namikaze was indeed a genius... I want you to learn an odd numbered chakra seal." At her confused look, he elaborated. "A Five Element seal would be best, but make due with a Three Buddha seal if you have to. I want you to be able to stop him if this is something more than it appears."

"I understand sir." Yugito nodded.

A could see that Yugito was feeling a bit of regret about these precautions. "If it makes this easier on you, I really hope that this is as it seems. There is also something else you should know. Nearly 30 years ago, before you were born, we tried to capture the Kyubi Jinchuriki from Konoha. The container at that time was also an Uzumaki, one Kushina Uzumaki. I believe that this was the boys mother. Reveal this to him when you deem appropriate."

Yugito was shocked. "His Mother?" Collecting herself, she continued. "I mean, yes sir. I will do this."

"See to it then. To be clear, the reason I am allowing this is simple. No Bijuu has attacked a village since the Senju split the 9 spirits at the birth of the hidden village system with the exception of the Kyubi. Something happened in Konoha that night, something that caused the Bijuu to be released and attack and has resulted in a village holding the jailer responsible for the prisoner's wrongdoing. Perhaps they think that if one Uzumaki failed to hold the fox, than another would let it out as well. Most likely is that since Naruto is the first hint I have seen of the continuation of the Namikaze line, people followed the legends of the Kitsune and decided that the Jailer looking that much like the Yondaime, who had no children, was a trick of the fox. Now... I believe you have work to do." A dismissed her after his train of thought finished its journey.

"Yes Sir!"

OOO

A/N: I'm going to stop it there. No, it hasn't been abandoned at this point. I would like everyone to know that if it were not for another author actually recomending this story and thus having some recent reviews come through, I probably wouldn't have finished this chapter. I know how I want this story to develop, but my work gets in the way far more often than I would like.


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